Door opening and closing mechanism



I March 15, 1927.

J. A. CREW ES DOOR-OPENING AND CLOSING MECHANISM Filed March 4, 1926 2 sheets-Sheet 2 .jMento'o James/ Crews Quorum;

Patented Mar. 15, 1927..

JAMES A. cnnwns, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. r

DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING MECHANISM.

Application filed March 4, 1926. Serial No. 92,355.

My said invention relates to improvements in mechanism for automatically opening and closing. garage doors as a vehicle passes into and out of the same and consists in various improvements in the construction and arrangement of parts, whereby various advantages are secured in the operation of the doors, all as will hereinafter be described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which are made'a part hereof and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts,

Figurel is a rear elevation or view from the inside of folding garage doors, illustrating the application of my invention, Figure 2 a top plan view, and Figures 3, 45' and 5 are detailed views. In the drawings reference character 10 indicates a pair of folding garage doors secured by hinges 11 to side frames 12and a greater length than the rod 15 for a purpose hereinafter more fully explained. Op-

erating arms 16 are fixed on said operating rods in substantially horizontal positions,

adjacent the upper ends of the doors and said arms are provided with bifurcated outer I extremities 17 curved forwardly and having rollers 18 disposed in Z-shaped slots 19 .in brackets 20 secured to the section of'the door which is pivoted to the door frame.

The operating rods 1a and 15, mounted in hangers or supports 43 are provided on theirupper ends with levers 21 formed with oppositely extending arms of equal length and connections 22 are provided between the opposite ends of the levers, said connections comprising rods or cables crossed to cause the doors to operate simultaneously in a similar manner. A track 23 is mounted above each pair of doors on the door frame and forms a guide for each free section of the doors. A bracket carrying a roller 24E atits end is secured to the center of each more fully free section of the door and is bent inwardly v at an angle so that the roller 2 1 is spaced about three inches from the plane of the door thereby eliminating any binding or friction when opening or closing the doors.

Amanually operable handle '26 is fixed h operating rod 14' "adj t i lower end in a positioncapable of being readily manually manipulated to open or close the doors. When the handle26 is swung inwardly the rods 14 and 15 will be rotated to swing the arms 16 inwardly andsaid arms will cause the rollers 18 tomove along the slot 19 in the bracket-20'to unlock and open the doors and lock them in the open position.

The brackets 25fand rollers24-supported thereby travelling outwardly toward the sides of the doors and maintaining the outer edges of the doors in substantially the plane of the door frame to cause'the' sectionsof each door to pivot on its'respective'ghinge's and swing to one side clearing the door way. i

7 When the doors are swung to open position the rollers 18 will enter the recesses at ends of the slots 19 and hold the door against movement until such time as the rod 14 operated by lever 26 is swung inareverse direction to close the doors. In the closed position the rollers .18 will be housed in the recesses at the opposite end of the inclined slot 19 andthe doors will be held in closed 1 position, preventing them from being opened by unauthorized persons from the exterior.

I In order to provide means for opening and closing the doors automatically I fix a bevelled gear 27 on the lower extremity of r the operatingrod14c, and a gear casing 28 1s mounted on the door frame about said gear and supports a horizontally disposed shaft 29 having apair of segmental gears 30 and 31 fixed thereon and'spaced about 90 apart for engagement with the bevelled gear 27 for rotating it in a clock-wise direction for closing the doors and in a contraclock-wise direction for opening thedoors. The segmental gear 30 is provided with "an axial extension 32'provided with teethand forming a clutch member adapted for engagement with a co-operating clutch member 33 loosely mounted on the shaft29, but held in engagement with clutch 1nember32 by means of a helical spring 34 A lever 35 is secured'to said clutch member 33 and is adapted to be depressed for rotating the no clutch'memberBO-and also for rotating the clutch'member 31 through the medium of the shaft 29. In order to preventreverse rotation of the shaft 29 and gears 30 and 81 mounted thereon when the lever 35 is elevated, I fix a ratchet 86 on the extremity of the shaft 29' and mount a pawl 37 in a position to engage said ratchet. A gravity operated pawl may be utilized, however. I

preferably provide a pawl formed of spring metal to constantly press against said ratchet.

In order to depress the lever I provide a treadle 38 adjacent the front of the garage and a treadle arm 39 is pivoted thereto and extends beneath the operating lever and is pivotally supported at its inner end by means of a bracket 40, a rod 41 has one end connected to the lever 35 and has its opposite end'connected to the treadle arm 39, so that when the treadle is depressed the rod 41 .willfldepress the arm 35 and rotate the segmental gearsfor operating the doors. In order to maintain the treadle arm" and treadle in elevated position I provide a that the spring 42 preferably capable of wi hstanding'a weight approximately 400 pounds, so doorscan be operated from with out only when sufficient weight, as for examplea portion of the weight of a vehicle supported thereon.

In the operation of device the man ually operable handle 26 will first be operated to open thedoors, whereupon the vehi-.

cle passing out of the garage will pass over the treadle and depress the same, rotating the segmental gears, but one depression of the lever will merely bring the segmental gear 31 into position to engage the bevelled gear 27 .and as the second vehicle wheel passes over the treadleit will rotate the bevel gear 27 to perform the closing operation. When the doors are closed and a vehicle is driven up in' front of the garage,

the front wheel as it passes over the treadle 38 will open the doors while the second wheel passing over said treadle will only cause the clutch to override. The doors may then be manually closed by operation of the handle 26.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes" may be made in my device without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore, I do not limit-myself to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated inthe appended claims.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination a door frame, a door pivoted at each side'of the frame, separate irreversible pin and slot operators for'each door, manual and pedal driving. means for one of said operators and connecting linkage between the two operators,-substantially as set forth.

neenase 2. In combination a door frame, af door pivoted at one side to sa d frame, a bracket on said door adjacent its free edge and hav ing a slot therein, an operating arm having arm and therebyholding the door in open or closed position, substantially as set forth.

3.'In combination a door frame, a door pivoted at each side of-the frame, an operating rod supported on each frame adjacent each door, a lever onfeach operating rod, connections between the opposite ends of said levers whereby when one leverfis operated, the other lever will be operatediin an opposite direction, an operating arm mounted on each of said operating rods, a connection between the outer end [of each operating arm and its respective door, and

manuall operable handle mounted on one of said operating rods adapted to be manipulated to rotate the operating rod for opening and closing said doors, substantially as set forth. 4-. In combination a door frame, a door mounted in the door frame, an operating rod mounted on said door frame and having one end slidably' secured'to the door, a gear on the lower end of said opera-ting rod, a pair of segmental gears adjacent said bevelled gear and adapted to alternately engage'the same for rotating it in. reverse directions, a clutch associated with said sen" mental gears, a lever carried by said clutch forrotating the segmental gears in a step by step manner, a link dependingfrom said lever, a treadle arm connected to said link,

and treadle on said treadle arm whereby pressure upon the treadle will cause [the door to open and close, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination a door frame, a. door mounted in said frame, an operating rod" mounted on said door frame in substantial parallel relation to the door, a door engaging arm mounted on said operating rod, and means for rotating said operating rod in opposite directions for opening and closing the door, said means comprising a gear on said operating rod, segmental gears associated. with said first mentioned gear and means for rotating said segmental gears for rotat the associated gear and operating rod alternately 111 opposite directions, substantially as set forth. I n

6. The combinatmn of a door frame, a-

door mounted in said frame, an operating arm connected to said door for opening and closing the same, a rod mounted on'said door frame in substantial parallel relation said operating rod adapted to'be maniputo the door and supporting. said operating arm, a gear on said operating rod, a shaft mounted transversely of the operating rod adjacent said gear, a pair of segmental gears on said shaft having the teetlrofone spaced a slight distance about their axis from the teeth of the other whereby when said shaft is rotated one segmental gear Will engage the gear and rotate it in one direction, while immediately thereafter the other segmental gear will engage said gear and rotate it in a reverse direction, substantially as set forth. g

7. The combination of adoor frame ,a door mounted in said frame, an operating arm connected to said door for opening and closing the same," arod mounted on said door frame in substantial parallel relation to the door and supporting said operating arm, a gear on said operating rod, shaft mounted transversely of the operating rod adjacent said gear, a pair of segmental gears I on said shaft having the teeth of one spaced about their axis from the teeth ofthe other whereby when said shaft is rotated one mental gear will engage the gear and rotate.

it in onedirection, while immediately thereafter the other segmental gear will engage said gear and rotate it in a reverse direction and whereupon a continued rotation of the shaft will permit the gear on the operating rod to remain idle until the shaft haslbeen I rotated sufficiently to bring the first men tioned segmental gear into engagement with said gear to again operate the same, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination of a door frame, a door mounted in said frame, an operating arm connected to said door for opening and closing the same, an operating rod mounted on said'door frame in substantial parallel relation to the door and supporting said operating arm, a gear on said operating rod,

a shaft mounted transversely of the operatmental gears on said shaft at opposite sides of said gear and having teeth spaced a slight distance about their axis from the'teeth of the other whereby when said shaft is rotated one segmental gear will engage said gear and rotate it in one direction while immedi ately thereafter the other segmental gear will engage said gear and rotate it in a reverse direction and whereupon a continued rotation ofthe shaft will permit the gear on the operating rod to remain idle untilthe shaft has been rotated sufiiciently to bring the first mentioned segmental gear into engagement with said gear to again operate the same and means for operating said segmental gears in a step by step movement, substantially as set forth. 7

9. The combination of a door frame, a door mounted in said frame, an operating arm connected to said door for opening and operating ing rod adjacent said gear, a pair of seg-- said operating rods,

closing the same, an operating rod mounted on said door frame in substantially parallel relation to the door and supporting said arm, a gear on said operating rod, a shaft mounted transversely of the operating rod adjacent said gear, a pair of segmental gears on said shaft having the teeth of one spaced a slight distance about their supporting shaft from the teethof the other whereby when said shaft is rotated one segmental gear will engage said gear and rotate it in one direction while immediately thereafter the other segmental gear will engage said gear and rotate it in a reverse direction and whereupon a continued rotation-of the'shaft will permit the gear on the operating rod to remain idle until the shaft has been rotated sufiiciently to bring the first mentioned segmental gear into engagement with said gear to again operate the same, means for operating said segmental gears in a step by step movement, said 'means comprising a clutch mechanism, a

lever mounted on the upper portion, of each operating rod, and having oppositely extending arms, cross connections between the opposite arms of said levers, whereby when one operating rod is rotated the other operating rod will be correspondingly rotated in the opposite direction, an, operating arm mounted on each of said operating rods and having its outer end connected to the adjacent door, and means for rotating one of whereby the doors may be simultaneously opened or closed, substantially as set forth.

11. The combination of a door frame, a folding door mounted at; each side on the door frame, a track above each folding'door,

co-operating means adjacent the forward edge of each door for engagement with its respective track, an operating rod mounted on the door frame adjacent each door and in substantial parallel relation thereto, a lever mounted on the upper portion of each operating rod and having oppositely extending arms, cross connections between opposite arms of said levers, whereby when one operating rod is rotated'th'e other operating rod will be correspondingly rotated in the opposite direction, an operating arm mounted on each of said operating rods and having its outer end connected to its respective door,

set forth.

operating rodswvhereby the doors may be simultaneously opened or o Comprising a treadle and tween said treadle and one rods whereby When the tre the operating rod will be rotated for openlosed, said means In Witness Wher a connectlon beof sald operatlng adle is depressed twenty-six.

ing and closing the doors, substantially as eof, I have hereunto set '10 any handat Indianapolis, Indiana, this-1st day of March, A. D. nineteen hundred and JAMES A. OREWES. 

